A food blog all about healthy, simple, seasonal vegetable recipes

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It sounds silly to say, but one thing I love most about traveling is coming home. Suddenly everything I used to take for granted day-to-day is pure luxury – sleeping on my own pillow in my own bed, getting into a shower I can actually fit into without bumping into the sides of the glass, and making breakfast in my own kitchen without having to search for utensils.

We’ve been home for 2 days now, and since then we’ve done about 3 things: lay on the sofa, go out for tacos and stock up on all of my favorite foods. Peaches are still going strong so it seems like the perfect time to share one of my favorite easy summer desserts.

This is a version of my go-to oat crumble – this time it’s made with stone fruits and pecans. I usually make this with coconut oil, but you can use butter or vegan butter – I tend to grab whichever one I happen to have on hand. You really can’t mess this one up.

I realize, you might not want to turn your oven on but the nice thing about peaches (vs. apples, pears, etc), is that they cook pretty fast. If you’re still not convinced – try this version with grilled peaches instead.

Our vacation is coming to a close and while we’ve eaten well in Italy, we’ve eaten just a little too well. I’m feeling pretty ready to go home and get back to my many-vegetable way of eating. But before we go to salad town, I thought I’d share this pile-of-vegetable pizza recipe that I made before we left. Usually my opinion about pizza is “less is more,” but I had a fridge to clean out.

The crust here is made with spelt flour but you can use whole wheat if you want to. Or skip the dough-making step and get it from the store. I usually get the raw dough that they sell behind the pizza counter at Whole Foods.

I used a regular vegetable peeler to peel my zucchini and summer squash into thin ribbons. They cooked a little faster this way, plus, I mean, they’re so pretty right? I piled them on top of sliced tomatoes (that are a little hard to see), and then tossed red onions and corn on top. I’m not gonna lie – this one is a juicy mess to eat but we loved it anyway.

Soup is my favorite thing to make regardless of the season – it’s comfy and cozy in the fall and winter, but just because it’s 100 degrees outside now doesn’t mean I don’t crave soup in the summer. Enter: gazpacho.

This one is extra healthy (and bikini-season-friendly) because it’s made with green juice as the base. Since working on these recipes, with Evolution Fresh, I’ve been inspired to incorporate more green juices into my cooking. I got this idea by reading the ingredient list for their Sweet Greens and Ginger cold-pressed juice. It’s full of cucumber, apple, and ginger (among other greens), and sounded like the start of a really refreshing gazpacho. To that, I added yellow tomatoes, a drizzle of good olive oil and sherry vinegar. Sometimes gazpacho recipes call for stale bread to create a creamier soup, but I like to blend in blanched almonds or raw cashews instead.

This soup comes together in about 5 minutes. Blend it, taste it, chill it. Like all soups, it tastes great the next day. I love to eat this one for lunch with avocado toast or a big salad.

Ciao from Italia! At the moment, our life is all about pizza, pasta and tomatoes. It’s amazing but every time I travel, the things I miss most are tacos and mexican-ish food. We made these quesadillas a few weeks ago but I could totally go for one right now!

I often get questions about how to cook eggplant. My favorite and most foolproof method for non-spongy eggplant is to grill it. (If you don’t have an outdoor grill, you can use a grill pan on your stove). I grill mine simply with olive oil, salt and pepper, and a squeeze of lemon or drizzle of balsamic; I then serve it with some arugula or sliced tomatoes.

But I’m in love with this recipe for grilled eggplant quesadillas that comes from my friend Erin (of Naturally Ella)’s new book The Easy Vegetarian Kitchen. The spices are so flavorful and the eggplant bulks up the quesadillas in a meaty-but-not-meaty sort of way.

I know that so many of you are fans of Erin’s as well, so I’m sure lots of you already have her book, but if you don’t, put it on your list. It’s a super handy vegetarian guide to cooking with what you might have available seasonally or on hand. There are 50 base recipes and 3 unique versions of each. So pretty much any vegetarian meal you might want to make, she has a recipe for. Everything is made with whole grains and with fresh seasonal produce in mind.

I modified her quesadilla recipe just a tad. I mixed her spice rub with olive oil and used it as more of a chile sauce to brush onto the eggplant after I grilled it. (This kept my grill pan a little cleaner). I served the remaining sauce on the side of the finished quesadillas…Jack gave this meal two speechless thumbs up. Because that’s how he says “this one is really good” as he stuffs the next quesadilla wedge in his mouth.

To say that we’re obsessed with cold brew coffee is an understatement. It’s the only coffee we drink at home now – the only reason we still own a coffee maker (which is now stored up on the highest shelf) is for when parents come to visit. I didn’t know it was possible to make cold brew yourself, but it’s more than possible, it’s easy.

I’ve been buying my cold brew by the bottle, but when I started seeing homemade versions all over the internet (here, here, here,here), I was intrigued. But let’s back up – what is cold brew coffee you ask? (if you’re not asking you can scroll down and skip this paragraph). It’s regular coffee beans (get a good quality kind) that you soak overnight and then strain instead of brewing it in a coffee maker. The benefits are that it’s less acidic than regular coffee, so it’s a little healthier and easier on the tummy. Plus, you can store it in the fridge and it’ll last almost a week.

I usually drink mine Americano style, and Jack drinks his with chocolate almond milk. Today we’re meeting in the (lightly sweet) middle with iced almond milk lattes made with homemade cold brew iced cubes… because no one wants a watery coffee drink once the ice melts.

Store these ice cubes all summer long – pop a few out as you like and just add Almond Breeze! Adjust the strength of your coffee drink by the number of ice cubes you use. Your iced latte will be ready quicker than your local barista can spell your name wrong on a paper cup.